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Record turnout for 2017 National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) Poolesville Day Event
The final count is in and our National Drive Electric Week Poolesville Day Event was the largest on the east coast, for the 2nd year running and was the 3rd largest worldwide, out of 276 events.

Only one more day until our 2017 National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) Poolesville Day Event and it looks like we are in line for another record breaking event! We hope you are coming! Largest NDEW event on the east coast, 3rd largest worldwide (out of 286 events).

Note to Media and Vendors: Please contact *protected email* for at the event parking.

We have over 120 Electric and Plugin Electric Hybrid Vehicles (EV/PHEV) signed up to come out and enjoy the day. This is mostly EV owners volunteering their time to help educate the public about what it is like to really own an Electric or Plugin Electric Hybrid Vehicle. There will also be manufacturers and dealerships from Tesla, Ford, Nissan, Chevy, VW, BMW and more. Patrons will be able to test drive or ride many of these.

Learn what the real facts and what are the myths about EVs. See the different makes and models and what are the advantages and disadvantages of both. Also, the Classic Car Show returns this year and will be co-located with the National Drive Electric Week show. Partnering with the Town of Poolesville, this event is on Poolesville Day. The town is closed to all but foot traffic. Vendors line the street, music fills your ears and the smell of wonderful food fills the air. There will be farm animals, old time tractors (and steam engines at the car show), climbing walls and all kinds of entertainment. Oh, and the day starts at 10 am with a great parade. These events bring in 10,000 to 15,000 people. Don’t forget to get your photo with a Star Wars Stormtooper from the 501st or other hero Cosplayer at the NDEW event.

See the Hello Kitty electric car at the Poolesville Green booth.

This event is hosted by non-profit Poolesville.Green and supported by local EV groups like MD Volt and EVADC as well as our financial sponsors.

The 2016 National Drive Electric Week – Poolesville Day event was a resounding success!

The final registered electric vehicle count was 91 vehicles, 22 Models. We had a few cars not show up and a few that showed up, but never registered. The final count made this the largest National Drive Electric Week event on the east coast and the 5th largest event worldwide. That is 5th out of the 235 events registered. Not bad for a small town in Maryland. We are still waiting on the final people count from the Town of Poolesville, but we expect it to be well over 10,000 people. We started organizing our event shortly after our 2015 event completed. In 2015 we had just over 40 vehicles, so this year, we more than doubled that. And, yes, we have already started planning for 2017.

It was an amazing record-making event. Electric vehicle owners came from all over the area and a number of dealerships participated and supported our event.

For some of the Virginia resident vehicle owners, the day started early with a MD Volt Meetup and ferry crossing to get some great photo ops as they crossed the Potomac River on the Civil War era White’s Ferry car transport. It was quite a site, seeing the historic White’s Ferry loaded with modern electric vehicles.

For the rest of Poolesville, the day started with a parade, which included a few of the electric cars, two all-electric motorcycles and two Star Wars Stormtroopers from the Old Line Garrison, the Maryland chapter of the worldwide 501st Legion. The Tesla Model X in the parade was driven and owned by local physician, Dr. Amar Duggirala, of Poolesville Family Practice. Another parade participant, a new KIA Soul EV was brought by Jim Alvis, Manager at Government Affairs for KIA Motors America Corporation, Washington Office.

KIA Motors America put on a first class operation. They brought 3 of the all new Electric KIA Souls. They provided more than 30 demo drives and rides and gave out a variety of KIA goodies that helped to entice people to give the Soul a look and a test drive. Their energetic team of people was a welcome addition to our event.

BMW of Rockville, back for another year, brought their i3 and the crowd-pleasing i8. People loved the very sporty look of the i8 with its swan or butterfly doors that open upwards and outwards. And the i3 with its equally unique doors and look drew a lot of attention as well. Next year we hope to feature the i8 as one of the parade cars.

Sheehy Ford of Gaithersburg, who has attended our event for a number of years, brought the new Ford Fusion Energi (a plug-in electric hybrid) and the all-electric Ford Focus. To the delight of the audience, Sheehy Ford of Gaithersburg‘s Mike Engelmann demonstrated hands free, the self-parking ability of the Ford Fusion Energi.

DARCARS Nissan Rockville brought their well known and respected LEAF. Nissan is one of the National sponsors of the National Drive Electric Week and we were delighted to have DARCARS of Rockville represent Nissan.

Loved seeing the wide variety of vehicles, from the Chevy Volts to Nissan LEAFs to Honda Fit to Zero Motorcycles. But the unusual is always a cool draw, like the little “Smart fortwo electric drive” and the self made electric conversions, like the “E-Pacer”.

But for this author, my true love is the Ford Fusion Energi (I think it is one of the best-looking plug-ins out there, Okay, I may be bias, I own one), and the Tesla Model X (my ultimate dream car).
I loved seeing all of the amazing Teslas at our event. We had 2 Tesla Roadsters, 14 of the Tesla Model S and 7 of the show-stopping Model X. A number of the owners provided demo drives and rides.

Tesla owners attending our National Drive Electric Week Poolesville Day event showed off their stuff. The ludicrous 0-60 in 2.5 second Tesla Model S to the Falcon Wing doors of the Model X are always a big hit at any car show. And all of the added accessories.

We also loved having a couple members of the Old Line Garrison, the Maryland chapter of the worldwide 501st Legion. They represented their Garrison well and provided wonderful photo opportunities for car owners and show attendees alike. We would love to see them and their Rebel counterparts back next year, maybe in a larger force. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see 30 or more Star Wars StormTroopers marching in the parade?!

This year, Genovation Cars Inc. co-founder Andrew Saul, CEO, came with his Tesla Model S and talked to people about the company’s High-Performance All-Electric Corvette, the GXE. This is the car that made The Kessel Run in 12 parsecs…no wait that’s Star Wars… the GXE broke the EV speed record for a production electric car. It hit 205.6 mph, breaking their own world land speed record at NASA’s Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds, Kennedy Space Center-Shuttle Landing Facility shuttle runway. A record that is sure to be broken again by the GXE before long. Andrew plans to bring the GXE Corvette to our 2017 event. We hope to include it in the parade.

Also for our 2017 event, we are working to entice Local Motors of National Harbor to bring their 3D printed car and their amazing Olli.

The National Drive Electric Week Poolesville Day event was hosted by Poolesville.Green with help from local Electric Vehicle user groups like MD Volt and supported by individuals and local and national businesses. We also appreciate the participation of the local and national car dealerships and manufacturers.

We thank all of the above sponsors for their support and could not have hosted on an event of this magnitude without it. We are already looking for support for an even better 2017 event and want to thank MD Volt for its early donation.

Alpharetta, Georgia passed Poolesville to take 1st place on the East Coast with 73 registered cars. Congrats!. Their very successful event was held on Sept 10th. Poolesville has 72 vehicles registered and still counting. Poolesville is on track for being the largest National Drive Electric Week on the east coast. We have more than 70 Plug-In Electric Vehicles (20 Models) already signed up and expecting more than 10,000 people to attend.

Poolesville is on track for being the largest National Drive Electric Week on the east coast. We have more than 60 Plug-In Electric Vehicles already signed up and expecting more than 10,000 people to attend.

National Drive Electric Week – Poolesville 2016

Poolesville is on track for being the 1st or 2nd largest National Drive Electric Week on the east coast. Our 4th annual National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) – Poolesville Day event is tied with the Town of Poolesville’s 24th annual Poolesville Day event. The combined two events draws in 10,000 to 15,000 people from the surrounding Maryland/Virginia/DC area. The event will be on Sept 17, 2016 from 10 am – 4 pm, located just across from the Bassett’s Fine Food & Spirits Restaurant.

The National Drive Electric Week “is a nationwide celebration to heighten awareness of today’s widespread availability of plug-in vehicles and highlight the benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more. ” – read more at https://driveelectricweek.org.

Our Poolesvilleevent continues to grow thanks to the support of the Town of Poolesville, the Poolesville Day committee, and local Electric Vehicle (EV) organizations like MD Volt (http://MDVolt.org/), but mostly through the enthusiastic EV owners who share their time, their vehicles and their experiences with the general public. We also have dealerships, like DARCARS Nissan Rockville, King Volkswagen of Rockville, BMW of Rockville and others, that bring the latest technologies and their experienced sales people to can answer even more questions, Some will even provide on site test drives and rides. This event is also supported by local businesses, organizations and regular people like you (sponsors, listed below) that donate money and valuable items that we use to enhance the experience and to provide free give-a-ways at the event.

We will have Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) of every kind and model at the show. From the quickest production car made, the Tesla Model S (which happens to be all electric) that goes from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds to some of the coolest looking vehicles like the BMW i8 or the Tesla Model X. We will even have all electric motorcycles like the Zero.

We will have officials from dealerships and manufacturers, like Jean Gough, EV Fleet Business Development Manager from Nissan North America, Inc. and Jim Alvis, Manager at Government Affairs for Kia Motors America Corporation, Washington Office (who is bringing a new Kia Soul EV).

A few members from the Star Wars 501st Stormtroopers, Maryland Old Line Garrison will be at the event, which will provide some great photo ops.

On Friday, October 23, 2015, at Town Hall, Poolesville Green hosted its latest talk in the “What’s It All About” series of informational workshops.

The topic was Montgomery County’s Resource Recovery Facility (Covanta) and the county’s energy-from-waste program, which was presented by Mark Freedman, Covanta Montgomery’s Business Manager.

When residents think of Covanta, the term “incinerator” may come to mind, along with the image of smoke stacks from decades past which spewed black fumes, carcinogenic ash, and a bad stench into the air. What we learned from the talk, however, is that Covanta’s state-of-the-art facility, equipped with the most rigorous of air pollution control systems, safely converts waste into clean, renewable energy.

In operation for 20 years now, Covanta’s Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility, located off of Martinsburg Road in Dickerson, has been processing an average of 1,800 tons of solid waste daily, while generating up to a net 52 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 37,000 homes.

Montgomery County appears to have put quite a bit of thought into the design of its solid waste management plan with an emphasis on sustainability. In 2000, its Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) was given the “Waste-to-Energy Facility of the Year” award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Solid Waste Processing Division.

So what happens to your trash after you place it on the curb? (Did you know it goes on a train ride?)

All of the county’s trash is first delivered to the Shady Grove Transfer Station in Derwood where it is compacted into waste containers. Each day, these containers are loaded onto train cars and transported 22-miles to an enclosed building at the Dickerson facility. The use of the rail system eliminates the truck traffic on rural roads, in particular Route 28, as well as the emissions that would be associated with all the diesel trucks traveling to the facility.

In the “incinerator,” the RRF uses a mass combustion technology where waste is burned at temperatures exceeding 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to an inert ash residue that is about 10% of its original volume. The heat from combustion boils water and generates steam, which turns a turbine-driven generator to produce electricity. The electricity generated is distributed to the grid.

What is done to keep the pollutants generated by combustion out of the air?

The energy-from waste (EfW) industry is highly regulated, more so than the coal and oil utilities. The RRF uses state-of-the-art emissions control technologies to treat the air from the combustion chamber of the boilers. A carbon-injection system removes mercury and dioxins/furans. An ammonia-injection system removes nitrous oxides. Lime injection controls acid gases, in addition to a dry flue gas scrubber and fabric filter baghouse that control acid gases and particulate emissions. Covanta also utilizes a MARTIN Combustion Control system for carbon monoxide as well as a Low NOx system.

After passing through the multi-step air pollution control system, what goes up the stack is clean gas. According to Freedman, what you see coming out is just “steam,” and it is distinguishable from a smoke plume because it is detached from the stack. The county monitors the emissions continuously (every 10 seconds) and the data is available for view on its website: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/sws/facilities/rrf/cem-detail.html.

**It may be worth noting that the emissions from the RRF plant should not be confused with the emissions visible from the neighboring NRG Energy Dickerson plant, a coal-fired power station, also located on Martinsburg Road, which reportedly has plans to shut down operations in 2017.

Finally, what about the solid ash? The fly ash that is collected in the baghouse is wet down and cooled, then exposed to a powerful magnet that pulls out the metals that can be recycled. The final solid material is shipped out to a landfill in Richmond, Virginia where it provides the mandated 6” daily cover of inert material.

Freedman also addressed the topic of potential health risks associated with the RRF emissions. He cited studies commissioned by Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation, Division of Solid Waste Services and reviewed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Air and non-air samples from nearby areas continue to be monitored (every 3 years and 5 years, respectively), and the numbers have consistently shown that the relative risk of harm to human health is very low and that the RRF does not pose unacceptable risks to the surrounding community.

After describing the Covanta Montgomery facility, Freedman went on to discuss waste management on a global level. He shared data comparing the environmental effects of EfW versus landfilling. EfW uses less land per megawatt than other renewable energy sources. EfW also reduces the amount of greenhouse gases in the air compared to landfilling, mainly by eliminating the release of methane gas (which is about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide) that would occur in a landfill.

Data showing where the US stands globally with regard to EfW vs. landfilling was also presented. Compared to Europe, which has successfully eliminated or reduced landfills and implemented effective EfW technologies, the US still landfills 64% of its trash.

We’ve all heard the mantra “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” According to Freedman, Montgomery County does a very good job at recycling. The county’s solid waste services also promote “reuse” programs at the Transfer Station (e.g., bicycles, paint, and building materials). There are organizations such as , a nonprofit that redistributes used furniture and home goods to families in need. However, he says, as a society we are not doing a very good job of “reducing” trash volume. Convenience demands the excessive use of plastic and other materials that end up in the trash. Until the volume of trash is reduced, EfW will continue to be considered a “renewable” energy source.

In an ideal world, from an environmental perspective, we would produce much less trash. However, until we can solve that problem, EfW appears to be a responsible and sustainable solution for both waste management and renewable energy.

The first tour stop – the Poolesville Solar Array. In 2014, Poolesville became one of the only two Montgomery County communities to produce renewable energy..The 6-acre solar farm is located adjacent to the Poolesville Waste Water Treatment Plant, produces enough electricity to power much of the municipal government’s needs, including fueling the treatment plant and keeping the lights on in the Town Hall. The solar farm reports to save Poolesville as much as $20,000 annually in reduced energy costs. Poolesville town manager, Wade Yost and Poolesville Green’s Executive Director Joyce Breiner lead this portion of the tour,.

Wade talks about the Solar ArrayArray on the background

Attendees check out the array

The second stop on the tour was a visit to a 15 year old, net-zero energy, single family home (2 Hackett Ct, Poolesville, MD, 20837). The house has been upgraded over the past 7 years to include obvious and not so obvious energy savings changes.

Solar Powered Home

This includes 69 rooftop solar panels producing at time more engender then used by the occupants. They also own two electric vehicles.charged by this solar powered home.

oolesville Green hosted the Poolesville Area Chamber of Commerce monthly Networking Round-table. As an introduction to the kinds of activities Poolesville Green brings to the community, a brief discussion about Montgomery County’s Green Business Certification Program was conducted by invited speaker Doug Weisburger, a County Senior Planning Specialist and manager of the program. He covered the benefits of the program, why businesses might consider participating and provided examples of categories and names of Montgomery County businesses already participating.